Forthcoming Racing Events
The next Proposed Race Date for 2012 is July 14th/15th 2012
The next (proposed) race Weekend for 2012 will be -
Round 4 - July 14th & 15th
We're looking for someone assist the Rear Commodore in organising this event - anyone who's interested, please contact Richard.
There is a possibility of an earlier one in April - please contact Richard for further information.
Future Events
Sunsail have announced their 2012 Racing Series dates:
Round 1 - March 17th & 18th
Round 2 - March 31st & April 1st
Round 3 - April 14th & 15th
Round 4 - July 14th & 15th
Round 5 - August 25th & 26th
Round 6 - September 22nd & 23rd
Round 7 - October 6th & 7th
Round 8 - October 20th & 21st
Book these (provisional) dates in your diaries for 2012! Dates Bold & Italics are the proposed weekends - so far.
Previous Events
17th-18th March 2012 - Start of the 2012 Season - Sunsail Regatta 1
The First Racesail of the 2102 calendar took place on March 17th & 18th this year. We made our way to the Sunsail offices at Port Solent on the Friday Evening, to collect the yacht, and were able to get on board about 6pm. Once handover was done, we gathered the crew & adjourned to the Yacht club restaurant for the Skippers Brief, as well as a meal and a few drinks, to help with crew bonding!
HOEOCA only had one boat out for this race, but it was fully crewed with 10 people – as Mark P had opted to sail with Neil P-M, and was even looking forward to the 06:30 Spinnaker Drills (mad man that he is!). As it was, Neil got his crew up late – they didn't start drills until 06:45...
The weather on the Saturday morning was looking good, if a little damp, so we prepared ourselves, and Martin has allocated set places for the crew each day – with the chance to change on the Sunday. We made good progress to the start of the first race, getting a relatively good start, and were performing our tasks admirably, but still getting overtaken by some of the other yachts – but we persevered, & came in 11th from 14 boats. In the second race, we changed tactics & were able to upgrade ourselves to 10th, in lighter winds.
At the end of the Saturday, we moored in Gunwharf Quays, in the shadow of the Spinnaker Tower, which was lit up in Green, to celebrate St Patrick's Day. After a quick wash & brush-up, we made or way to the Comedy Club in Tiger Tiger (stopping only to watch England with the rugby over Ireland (but loose the tournament to a terrific Welsh Grand-Slam). The acts were initially overshadowed by some of the crowd antics, but did get better later, and we had a very enjoyable meal, with Neil P-M again being singled-out by the acts on stage (we're sure he always gets the same spot each time!). After the meal, the two crews separated – Neil P-M opting for the noisy pub, whilst we had a quiet drink over the road, followed by a relatively early night (for some strange reason!).
The Sunday morning dawned slight cloudier, with the promise of more wind, and a front passing over in the afternoon – which may or may not bring a wind shift. We headed out to the start, and after a good start to the first race, our tactics let us down a little, but we still came a respectable 10th. With the final race after dinner, we were determined to do better, and indeed, we had a fabulous start, being in 4th place. Looking at the upcoming weather front, and planning our tactics appropriately. The front passed-over with a bluster & hail-stones, and we pulled further away from the trailing pack – into a flat calm, with no wind! The front had taken all of the wind with it, & we were all left in a drifting race. The Committee boat called & abandned racing for the rest of the day – scuppering our chances of a better finish – bother! Anyway, we were able to return to Port Solent earler, and get ourselves together sooner than normal.
Our Placings in the rankings didn't do justice to the hard work of the HOEOCA crew, and the effort put in by the skipper, Martin H, but we were up against 3 Sunsail crews (Skippers, Mix & Office), and 3 University crews, so our placings were not as bad as we thought. We fulfilled our skippers request - “Don't come last!”, and learned a great deal. So, thanks to all of the crew for the weekend:
Chris B
Roger S
Lindsey A
Peter D
Marie McC
Martin H (Skipper)
Graham C
Robin W
Mike V
Steph W
Very many thanks must go to Mark P for organising the whole event (with assistance from the Rear-Commodore Racing Richard), to Mike V for his help, and to Martin H for skippering the event so well. Also, many thanks to Neil P-M for his cooperation (taking in Mark P as extra crew!), and for his usual banter through the races.
Here's to the next race, scheduled for July 14th/15th – any volunteers wishing to assist with the arrangement for this weekend, please contact the Rear-Commodore Racing.
23-25 September 2011 - End of the Season Sizzler - Sunsail Regatta 6
Just to let you all know, the next Racesail weekend -- Regatta 6 --- 23-25 September 2011 - is going to be organised by Nina Williams. The full event details will be posted at a later date by Richard - Rear Commodore Racing (2 golden balls on his Burgee, & plaster on his wrist!).
15-17 July 2011 - Sunsail Regatta 4 - Practice, Practice, Practice!
Good morning RaceSailors !, I trust you all arrived home safely last night,
Well we had it all !, I don't think I could relate all the high's, not aware of any low's,
spoke to John last night he's home and nursing his 'sports injuries' but comfortable as they say,
no more foray's for him for a little while.
A BIG THANK YOU to all, great team, you made my job look easy !.
A special thank you to the Skippers who really make it happen, without them No boats !.
Please post any special notes / memoirs that can be published without any liable proceedings.
Seriously we need contributions for the website, please download onto the members page
any photo's, the web site needs to be utilised.
Full results will be posted later, just to say my boat ( Martin Inglis ) came first within the HOEOCA listing
with Martin Hemming and Mike Veal joint second, Mike also came third in his other race !
Couple of points of interest, with the trying conditions I would like to draw your attention to the attached item this has already been posted on the website -- Life Saver OR Fashion Items - please note the HOEOCA discount should you be looking at a purchase --- Sunsail life jackets rated at 175N.
25-27 March 2011 'Putting it into practice' Sunsail Regatta 2
View flyerOur first opportunity to put all that we've learnt into practice!
Sunsail has replaced its fleet at Port Solent with brand new Beneteau F40's; size matters, and at 41 feet the new yachts are more powerful and great fun to sail. Sunsail has equipped the yachts with brand new sails, spinnakers, heating, chart plotter and autopilots and I'm confident we're getting excellent value!
The weekends are 'shared cost' which means we aim to break even at the end of weekend. The 'shared cost' price includes food on board but excludes a boat kitty used to top up expenses for Saturday evening meal, beverages and marina fees.
In order to spread the workload this year, a number of racesailors have volunteered to help organise Racesail weekends. Mike Veal will be hosting this Regatta so please direct all enquiries to him. He will, as ever, do his best to accommodate everyone; contact Mike now to make a provisional booking, payment due by 1 March 2011 to confirm booking.
Further Racesail weekends are scheduled for later in year. More details will follow in due course.
Next Event
More events to be announced soon - keep checking here for details!
Sign Up
HOEOCA members can sign up for a Racesail Weekend using the application form accessible on the drop down menu on the Racing section or in the Members Only Area after signing in to this site. Not a HOEOCA member yet? Apply to join us.